Chapter 30
Holly – Five Months Later
I look over my lesson plan for tomorrow, my brows scrunched at the work the substitute teacher had done, and a scowl forms, and frustration builds.
They’ve already done this work.
Dammit.
Five months off for a gunshot wound, and the sub for the last two months of the school year just repeated lessons, likely confusing the kids.
It’s the first day back at school, and already, I’ve got a ton of work to do, no thanks to Mr. Hape, a man even the school hates to bring in because he’s lazy, pure and simple, and they didn’t have a choice but to bring him in.
Mrs. Jones is dead, and I wasn’t able to teach, not with a gunshot wound and a daughter who screamed for hours a night with nightmares.
I sigh, running my hand down my face as I try to regroup.
The kids are currently outside for their morning break, and I was supposed to be going over what we’ll be doing this term, but now we’re behind, no thanks to that jackass who doesn't give a shit about his job.
Maybe I could get my husband involved? The thought, though fleeting, almost makes me smile despite the stress.
I blink, then blink again, before looking at my left hand.
***
“Do you, Holly Marie Robins, take Alex Scott Lee as your lawful husband?” Judge Jones asks, and I grin wide as I grip Alex’s hand, who smiles wide back at me.
***
Damn, I cannot believe I got married. We haven’t even been together for six months, and yet, here we are.
I’m living in his home, wearing his cut and ring, and I’ve adopted his son, while he adopted my daughter.
Everything happened so fast, and yet, it felt right.
I shake my head and look down at the work and try to calculate when I can get the missed lessons in with our classes, just so they don’t fall further behind, preferably before my munchkins come in, and hopefully, I can keep my mind off my husband, who, unfortunately, even after five months, I struggle to be apart from.
***
“Bye, Mrs. Lee,” several kids say as they walk out with Mrs. Trivers, and I grin and wave bye to the kids while my two stay seated, coloring until I’m ready to leave.
Mrs. Lee, damn, it still sounds weird.
I shake my head. I still limp, so taking the kids outside isn’t possible yet. Parents have checked in after hearing about my accident, which has helped, but until walking is pain-free, this is my routine.
“Mama?” Caleb calls as I begin to pack everything up, and I look at my boy with a raised brow, “Is Uncle Ace still mad? Will he come around today?”
I wince, “I’m not sure, baby,” and he sighs but nods.
Uncle Ace went from fun-loving to grumpy, and no one knows why. One morning, he came back from a run, grabbed a coffee, and then headed to the club to tell Doc how it went and next thing, his bike was scratched badly, and he was in a foul mood.
Honestly, I’ve never seen him so mad. I miss my fun-loving friend.
Worse, he’s started hanging around Abby Hill, whom Rose called the meanest of the mean—which I’ve witnessed—and now I’m worried about him, though he has apparently found a new waitress who apparently doesn’t like him, so I guess that is something.
Swallowing at the look of disappointment on my kids’ faces, I grab my bag and say, “Come on, kiddos, grab your things and let's get home.”
They both nod and do as I ask before rushing towards me, and I smile softly at them as we walk out of my classroom, then guide them slowly towards the exit, my leg aching from standing for most of the day making me wince with each step.
I think a nice, hot, relaxing bath sounds good right about now.
***
I sigh as I sink into the tub and close my eyes, trying not to worry, though I can feel it swirling deep inside.
The kids are in bed, which took a lot of work, yet my husband isn’t home.
Lyra still can’t cope when Alex is gone, and I haven’t heard from him since we got home—he said he'd be late but I didn’t think it would be this late.
It’s the first time since everything happened that he’s stayed late at the garage, but I’m trying to breathe through my anxiety, even though I feel like I’m suffocating without him.
I keep telling myself we need to go about our days like normal again, though it's hard to really feel that way when my kids cried for half an hour because he wasn’t home yet before bed.
“Well, this is something I could really get used to coming home to,” Alex rasps from the door, and I physically relax for the first time all day, the tension in my shoulders dropping as I let out a breath, but I don’t open my eyes, only smile.
“Did you check on the kids?” I ask with a whisper, and he hums, “Yes,” before stating, “Lyra is zonked with my shirt you gave her, and Caleb is sleeping on her floor.”
I smile slightly but nod, not surprised Caleb snuck into her room.
“I’m so fucking sorry I wasn’t here by the time you got back from school, darling,” he husks, and I whisper, “You have a job to do, Alex, we have to get back to normal. There isn’t any danger, I know we’re safe.”
“Don’t care, you weren’t ready for this, but fucking Thunder crashed his bike again, and Tank is at the hospital tonight,” he sighs, and I look his way in shock, my eyes wide, my mouth parted.
“Is he alright?” I gasp, and he nods with a sigh as he removes his cut, placing it on the counter, then removes his shirt, his body coming into view, my eyes going to the tattoos, mine and Lyra’s name to be precise, like always.
When I first saw them, I think I was in shock, but when I realized they were real, I sobbed.
He claimed us, despite my messed-up head with my past, he claimed us, and I realized that day that I claimed him too.
His name is tattooed over my heart, something I got with him holding my hand, and the kids are on my calf.
“He’s alright,” he says, “the idiot was trying to get Ace to laugh but didn’t see the fucking gate, he went flying over his handlebars, which were bent, and of course Ace is still in a foul mood, but I have no idea why, and he’s even cut mama off, completely breaking her.”
I wince as Alex shakes his head, strips off his jeans and underwear, and walks toward me. Without thinking, I sit up and scoot forward and he climbs in behind me, his legs on either side of mine, and groans as he leans back, pulling me against him.
I give him my whole weight as I tilt my head and press my lips against his throat while his arms wrap tightly around me, the coolness of his wedding ring hitting my warm skin, sending shivers down my spine.
“Fuck, I missed you and the kids today,” he sighs, and I hum in contentment as I close my eyes, his heartbeat soothing me.
“Not as much as I missed you,” I admit, and he kisses my head.
“How was your first day back?” he asks after a few minutes of silence.
I admit, “Hard, the sub they had before I left redid the work I already did with the kids, so the two months of lessons they missed I had to fit into the schedule for the next three just so they don’t get behind and the kids struggled with my name change.”
“Lazy fucker,” Alex mutters, and I grin.
Great minds think alike.
“Mama texted throughout the day,” I confess, and he tightens his hold on me.
On our spontaneous wedding day, when we got to the courthouse, I was shocked to see my parents, well, to be honest, saying I was shocked was an understatement. Mama looked ready to bawl, while Dad looked proud, all while Matty kept side-eyeing my mother along with Uncle Mathew.
Apparently, she wanted to make amends and get to know her daughter again, and I, well, honestly, I told her I wasn’t ready. I’m still not, but it hasn’t stopped her from messaging me every day, which pushed me to message back, and slowly we’ve been going back and forth with messages.
“More gossip about the church ladies' night out?” he asks, his chest rumbling against my ear, and I snort.
“Mrs. Gatter slept with the priest, her husband found out after finding a video of her doing sixty-nine with him,” I mumble, and he laughs.
“She’s worming her way back in, isn’t she?” he confirms, and I hum.
“I tried not to let her, but I don’t know, I guess I just missed my mama before everything happened,” I confess, and Alex squeezes me tightly.
“I’m proud of you, darling,” he whispers, and I grin wide before I slowly move and turn in his arms, causing him to flatten his legs as I climb over his, straddling him making my leg twinge but I ignore it.
“How proud?” I ask with a husk, and he grins wide as he cups my cheek and whispers, “Very fucking proud,” before I take him inside me, his cock filling me up after blindly guiding the tip at my entrance.
I don’t think we’ve gone one night without him inside me, even if it is my time of my month, he is in me.
"Kiss me, Alex," I whisper.
He mutters, "With pleasure," and presses his lips to mine and aware of my leg injury, he grips my hips, gently lifts me, and pulls me back down, letting me swivel my hips for pleasure and we repeat the motion as we make love in the tub, a habit we've come to cherish while water splashes around us.
Slowly over the past nearly eight months, this man has worked his way into my life, into my heart. He’s taken over all of my senses, so that when he isn’t around, I feel like I can’t breathe without him.
He has slowly become the reason why I become a better person, a better mother and a better wife, he helps me let people in again.
Including my own parents even when they don’t deserve it.
As I moan against my husband’s mouth his cock filling me nicely, my walls sucking him in, I have never been so goddamn grateful to a seven year old for pushing for us to meet because meeting Alex, was the best day of my life.